This Sunday, Nov. 1, is when Calgarians would normally turn their clocks back an hour. Instead, it might be a bit of a jumble, with different clocks reading different times.
The province has made the summer clock permanent and renamed it Alberta Time. It's the first fall in more than 50 years that Alberta isn't falling back. Albertans have changed their clocks twice a year since a 1971 referendum.
The clock on your wall won't change, but a lot around it will feel different this winter: darker mornings, brighter evenings, and new time gaps with Toronto, Phoenix and most of the continent. Here's what's going on and what it means for you.
The short version
Nothing happens at 2 a.m. Sunday. Leave your clocks alone.
Mornings get darker. From about Nov. 19 to Feb. 9, the sun won't rise before 9 a.m.
Evenings get brighter. There won't be a sunset before 5 p.m. all winter.
Other places shift around us. Toronto is one hour ahead this winter, not two.
Check your devices Monday. Most will update themselves. Some older ones won't.
The shifted time gaps end March 14, when the places that fell back spring forward again.
What's actually happening?
Albertans used to switch clocks twice a year: back an hour in the fall to Mountain Standard Time, and forward an hour in the spring to Mountain Daylight Time.
Now there's one clock all year. Alberta Time is the same daylight time we've been on since March, six hours behind UTC, the world's reference clock.
It became law through Bill 31, the Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2026. The bill replaced Alberta's Daylight Saving Time Act with a new Official Time Act, and the sections ending the clock changes took effect June 18.
Why does it feel like everything else moved?
Because it did. Calgary is staying put, and the places that still change their clocks are the ones moving.
The easiest way to make sense of it is to compare everything with how it's been all summer:
If a place turns its clocks back this fall, the gap shifts by an hour. Places ahead of us get an hour closer: Toronto goes from two hours ahead to one. Places behind us fall an hour further back: Las Vegas goes from one hour behind to two.
If a place doesn't change its clocks, the gap stays exactly what it's been all summer. Regina stays on our time, and Vancouver stays an hour behind.
That second group is bigger than ever. Most of B.C. moved to permanent Pacific Time in March, Manitoba stopped changing its clocks, the Northwest Territories did the same, and Saskatchewan never changes its clocks at all.
Here's how the gaps look from Calgary:
Mountain weekends stay simple. The East Kootenay, including Fernie, Cranbrook and Invermere, keeps Alberta time all year. Golden had planned to fall back to match the rest of B.C., then reversed that decision after hearing from residents. Northeastern B.C., including Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, stays on UTC-7, an hour behind us.
If you spend winters in Arizona or Mexico, this is the part that will feel new. Last winter, Phoenix was on the same time as Calgary. This winter it's an hour behind. Puerto Vallarta used to be an hour ahead, and now it's on our time.
How dark will it get?
Alberta Time doesn't give us any more daylight. It moves it later in the day. Here's what that looks like in downtown Calgary, by the Calgary Citizen's calculations:
Date | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
Nov. 2 | 8:31 a.m. | 6:07 p.m. |
Dec. 1 | 9:18 a.m. | 5:32 p.m. |
Dec. 21 | 9:37 a.m. | 5:31 p.m. |
Jan. 15 | 9:33 a.m. | 5:58 p.m. |
Feb. 1 | 9:13 a.m. | 6:27 p.m. |
March 1 | 8:21 a.m. | 7:16 p.m. |
Under the old clock, every one of those times would have been an hour earlier.
The trade-off, in a nutshell:
Later mornings: the sun rises after 9 a.m. from about Nov. 19 to Feb. 9, roughly 12 weeks. The latest sunrise is about 9:40 a.m., around New Year's.
Brighter evenings: there won't be a single sunset before 5 p.m. this winter. Last winter, Calgary had about 70 of them, from early November to mid-January. This year's earliest is about 5:29 p.m., in mid-December.
For a lot of families, that means walking to school in the dark for much of the winter. Safety groups, including the B.C. Automobile Association, are urging pedestrians to wear reflective gear and make eye contact with drivers, and drivers to turn their lights on in low light rather than trusting automatic settings.
What changes in my day?
Mostly anything that runs on someone else's clock. This winter:
A 9 a.m. meeting in Toronto is at 8 a.m. here, not 7.
The stock markets in Toronto and New York open at 8:30 a.m. Calgary time, not 7:30.
Sunday's early NFL games kick off at noon here instead of 11 a.m.
The Calgary Flames have eight games this season that start at 9 p.m., including home games on Dec. 26 and Jan. 16.
What should I do before Sunday?
Not much, but a few things are worth a minute:
Don't change any clocks Saturday night. If a clock changes itself overnight, the clock is wrong, not you.
Update your phone, computer and tablet. Most devices should update automatically once manufacturers release their updates, the province says. Microsoft included the change in its September and October Windows updates.
Check everything Monday morning. If something is an hour off, the province suggests installing the latest updates and making sure automatic date, time and time zone settings are on. If it's still wrong, set the time zone by hand.
Look at the things that set their own clocks. Car dashboards, smart TVs, smart watches and appliances may need to be set by hand if they're older.
Double-check meetings with people outside Alberta. If the system that booked a meeting and the device showing it don't agree on the new rules, the meeting can show up an hour off starting Nov. 1, and out-of-province meetings are the most likely to go wrong. For anything important in November, confirm the time in writing.
Know who to call. The province says it can't provide tech support for personal devices. Contact your carrier, internet provider or the device's manufacturer.
How long does this last?
The shifted time gaps are a winter thing. On Sunday, March 14, Ontario, the U.S. and the other places that fall back this weekend will spring forward again, and the gaps go back to what they've been all summer. Calgary's clocks won't change then, either.
The darker mornings ease off on their own as the days get longer. By March 1, the sun is up at about 8:21 a.m.
Why did Alberta do this, and could it change back?
The province says one clock all year means fewer disruptions and more predictability for families and businesses, and lines Alberta up with neighbouring provinces.
Not everyone agrees. Albertans narrowly voted against permanent daylight time in a 2021 referendum, 50.2 per cent to 49.8 per cent, and Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi criticized the government for going ahead anyway. The Canadian Sleep Society and the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium favour permanent standard time and warn that permanent daylight time could cause sleep problems.
The province says it will gather feedback after the first full year. Premier Danielle Smith has said a referendum question could go on the ballot in October 2027 if people think the change was a mistake.
Until then, this Sunday will be a perfectly ordinary 24 hours long. No bonus hour of sleep, but no clocks to change, either.
